<p>Captain Faf du Plessis and his predecessor Virat Kohli scripted a beautiful opening duet as Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a booming start in IPL Season-16 against Mumbai Indians here on Sunday.</p>.<p>The 38-year-old Du Plessis - out of international cricket now having last played a game for South Africa in February 2021 - showed no ring rust whatsoever, hammering a brilliant 43-ball 73 (5x4, 6x6), while the in-form Kohli, looking back to his best, scored a sparkling 49-ball 82 not out (6x4, 5x6) to power the Royal Challengers to a thumping 8-wicket win over one of their great rivals at a sold-out M Chinnaswamy stadium.</p>.<p>Chasing a competitive 172 following Tilak Varma’s superbly constructed 84 not out off 46 balls for MI, Du Plessis and Kohli meant business from the moment they strode out to the crease. Du Plessis, who normally likes to take his time at the beginning of his innings, teed off in the third over itself after creaming Jason Behrendorff for two sixes and a boundary. Having got his eye in quickly, Du Plessis then just laid siege to the MI bowlers, finding a boundary at will to show he hasn’t lost any of his touch.</p>.<p>At the other end, Kohli too joined in the festivities with another display of a scintillating batsmanship. Initially giving himself room to play the inside-out shot through and over cover, Kohli then steadied himself to litter every part of the Chinnaswamy with boundaries. With runs coming at a fast clip from either ends, MI were at a loss of ideas to contain the damage. MI’s only hope was either Du Plessis and Kohli play a bad shot, and while the latter did once and was dropped, the duo motored along rather smoothly much to the joy of their faithful who had thronged the venue at least three hours before the start.</p>.<p>It looked like Du Plessis and Kohli would take the Challengers to a 10-wicket win but the former got out against the run of play in the 15th over. Dinesh Karthik followed his skipper to the dugout in the next over but Kohli was there till the end to ensure the job was complete without any further damage.</p>.<p>Earlier, the Royal Challengers failed to build on a good start after electing to bowl, faltering at the death to allow Mumbai Indians post an extremely competitive total. The impressive Tilak Varma staged a superb rescue act, first anchoring the innings when Mumbai were rocked after the fall of early wickets and then counter-punching brilliantly at the death to stun the Royal Challengers. But the brilliance of Du Plessis and Kohli ensured the chase was a canter.</p>
<p>Captain Faf du Plessis and his predecessor Virat Kohli scripted a beautiful opening duet as Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a booming start in IPL Season-16 against Mumbai Indians here on Sunday.</p>.<p>The 38-year-old Du Plessis - out of international cricket now having last played a game for South Africa in February 2021 - showed no ring rust whatsoever, hammering a brilliant 43-ball 73 (5x4, 6x6), while the in-form Kohli, looking back to his best, scored a sparkling 49-ball 82 not out (6x4, 5x6) to power the Royal Challengers to a thumping 8-wicket win over one of their great rivals at a sold-out M Chinnaswamy stadium.</p>.<p>Chasing a competitive 172 following Tilak Varma’s superbly constructed 84 not out off 46 balls for MI, Du Plessis and Kohli meant business from the moment they strode out to the crease. Du Plessis, who normally likes to take his time at the beginning of his innings, teed off in the third over itself after creaming Jason Behrendorff for two sixes and a boundary. Having got his eye in quickly, Du Plessis then just laid siege to the MI bowlers, finding a boundary at will to show he hasn’t lost any of his touch.</p>.<p>At the other end, Kohli too joined in the festivities with another display of a scintillating batsmanship. Initially giving himself room to play the inside-out shot through and over cover, Kohli then steadied himself to litter every part of the Chinnaswamy with boundaries. With runs coming at a fast clip from either ends, MI were at a loss of ideas to contain the damage. MI’s only hope was either Du Plessis and Kohli play a bad shot, and while the latter did once and was dropped, the duo motored along rather smoothly much to the joy of their faithful who had thronged the venue at least three hours before the start.</p>.<p>It looked like Du Plessis and Kohli would take the Challengers to a 10-wicket win but the former got out against the run of play in the 15th over. Dinesh Karthik followed his skipper to the dugout in the next over but Kohli was there till the end to ensure the job was complete without any further damage.</p>.<p>Earlier, the Royal Challengers failed to build on a good start after electing to bowl, faltering at the death to allow Mumbai Indians post an extremely competitive total. The impressive Tilak Varma staged a superb rescue act, first anchoring the innings when Mumbai were rocked after the fall of early wickets and then counter-punching brilliantly at the death to stun the Royal Challengers. But the brilliance of Du Plessis and Kohli ensured the chase was a canter.</p>